


True Love Never Dies

by belizafryler



Category: Love Never Dies - Lloyd Webber, Once Upon a Time (TV), Phantom of the Opera (2004)
Genre: F/M, I'm a sucker for a happy ending - Freeform, i guess, if you're rooting for zelena, it depends on how you look at it - Freeform, love never dies au, so there is one, then i'm sorry but, you're out of luck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-03 20:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4113871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belizafryler/pseuds/belizafryler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>True Love is never supposed to die, right? What happens when your true love gets thrown into a marriage she doesn't want? You spend a night beneath a moonless sky, of course. With any luck, True Love will come out on top.</p>
            </blockquote>





	True Love Never Dies

Nights were the worst. When the dark enveloped him, she came back. She was always there, haunting him and taunting him. And when he woke, or when he stopped spinning and reached for her, she disappeared and he held nothing but mere air.

Sometimes the imp would think of a book. It was a special book, one she read constantly. It was always near her. She had left it here, though, when she fled from him. He treasured it. It was titled _Her Dashing Hero._

Rumpelstiltskin figured that, once upon a time, he had been her hero. And now… Now she was lost and gone. Rumpelstiltskin blamed himself for it. If he had just been more accepting, more believing of her love… Perhaps she wouldn’t be dead right now.

Or perhaps, a voice whispered in his head, she’d be dead more viciously than even by her father’s hand. Perhaps someone would have used her, used her to get the dagger and killed her by his own hand. He would never stop thinking of the endless what ifs.

This night was no different. She came to him, around midnight, and began to taunt.

“Rumpelstiltskin,” she greeted him coyly. “Have you figured out where I am yet?”

Rumpel looked miserably at her, and did not answer.

She smirked, her hips swaying as she came up to him. Rumpelstiltskin reached for her, and all he hit was thin air.

“ _Belle!_ ” Rumpelstiltskin screamed.

There was no response. Belle was dead. Lost and gone.

The days started, and the days ended. Time went by, and night came. Moments came up upon him, again and again, and he still couldn’t bear to sleep. Not ‘til he heard her laugh again.

And sometimes, at night time, he’d dream that she was there. He’d wake, though, always would wake before he could touch her. If he could just hold her, crush her against him, he could find release. 

He’d be able to move on.

But, ‘til he heard her laugh once more, he’d always feel no more than halfway real.

 

The famous ooh-la-la girl was on tonight. She was always on. Day after day, she went on and performed as best as she could. She gave her best in every performance. Zelena Mills was tall, dark, and beautiful. 

She was the true bathing beauty of Storybrooke Island.

“Bathing beauty! Bathing beauty! Dance! Dance, dance, dance!” She sang out, her long legs coming up to kick in the air, left, right, left, right, until the song was over and she squealed theatrically.

Day in, day out. This was her routine. She stuck to it diligently, hoping to impress him, but he was never there. She should have known it all along; She could never compete with the ex-showgirl, Belle French. Though, Zelena supposed now she was Belle Scarlett.

Zelena didn’t understand what that- that woman - had that she didn’t. Zelena could sing. She could dance. She had the looks. The only thing Belle had that she lacked was books. Perhaps that was what she was missing? 

 

Will Scarlett stepped off of the train, and turned, offering his hand to his wife and child. He took Baelfire by the waist and pulled him off of the train, setting him securely on the ground.

“Where is he, Belle?” Will asked, his voice rough from disuse. “He said he would be here.”

Belle Scarlett, a pretty brunette with impossibly blue eyes, came down from the train and righted her hat. “I don’t know, Will.” She admitted. “I’m sure--” she began, and then she saw them. “Look, alright? There they are.” And she took Baelfire’s hand, leading him towards the carnies.

“Miss French! How lovely to have you back.” The first one, Archie Hopper, said. His voice still held the same stutter, she noticed with a smile.

“It’s Mrs. Scarlett,” Will told him firmly. 

Belle gave him a displeased frown, and gave Archie her hand to kiss. “How are you, Mr. Hopper?” she asked with a genuine smile.

“So sorry,” Archie apologised profusely. “I keep thinking of Belle as the slip of a girl she used to be.” he admitted. And then he turned to Belle and told her he was fine. “And who is this lad?” he asked with a smile.

Belle gave him a right beam, as she announced, “This is my son, Baelfire.”

“Pleased to meet you, sir.” Baelfire said, an unearthly lilt to his voice.

“And you, Master Baelfire.” Archie assured him with a smile. “And you.”

“I believe,” Will interrupted. “That we were supposed to meet the mysterious Mr. Y today?”

Belle shot Archie an apologetic smile. And then she paused to listen, for she was interested who she’d be singing for as well.

“All in due time, Mr. Scarlett.” Archie announced serenely. Belle paused, curious as to what that answer meant, but she didn’t dwell on it. 

Will, however, did. He glared at Archie. “And how am I to decipher if this is a fit arrangement for my wife to do, then, sir?”

Belle looked indignantly at her husband. “I’ve done every performance before I met you, Will, and I won’t give this one up now. We came all the way here!” She insisted. “If you forget, husband, no one decides my fate but me!” She added.

Will looked unimpressed by her outburst, and yet, did not rebuke her. Instead, he allowed himself to be put into the carriage and driven to the opera house.

 

About half an hour later, Will went downstairs to meet the mysterious Mr. Y at the bar, while Belle was left to mother her child. She didn’t regret having Baelfire; wouldn’t, couldn’t regret it. But sometimes, just sometimes, she wished she could be free like she had been.

“Go to your room, Bae, I’ll be there in a minute to say goodnight.” Belle promised, kissing her son on the forehead. 

“Goodnight, mother.” he responded, and obeyed.

The front door of the apartment opened, and Belle whirled around, her eyes narrowed. Who would dare to set foot in her temporary home, without even knocking?

She fainted when she saw it was _him._

 

When she came back to, he was there, petting her forehead with a cool, damp cloth. She took a hasty breath and said, “I should have known that you’d be here, I should have known it all along…” She looked at the musical notes on the papers that had strewn on the floor. “This whole arrangement bears your step, you’re in each measure of the song.” 

When he still said nothing, she demanded to know, “How dare you try and claim me now! How dare you come and invade my life!”

Rumpelstiltskin was looking at her as if she was a ghost. She didn’t think anything of it yet, however. Until he responded, “Oh Belle, my Belle, in that time when we were apart, I thought you dead. My Belle, on that night just before you were wed, ah Belle, you came and found where I hid -- don’t you deny that you did… That long ago night.”

“That night..” Belle agreed, her voice a mere whisper.

“Once,” Rumpelstiltskin murmured. “There was a night, beneath a moonless sky, too dark to see a thing, too dark to even try.”

Belle nodded quietly, and continued the reminiscence. “I stole to your side, to tell you I must go. I couldn’t see your face, but sensed you even so. And I touched you..”

“And I felt you.” Rumpelstiltskin agreed.

“And I heard those ravishing refrains.”

“The music of your pulse,” Belle murmured.

“The singing in your veins.” Rumpel responded.

“And I held you,”

“And I touched you.”

“And embraced you.”

“And I felt you.”

“And with every breath, and every sigh,” the duo murmured.

“I felt no longer scared.” Belle remembered.

“I felt no longer shy.” Rumpelstiltskin admitted. “At last, our feelings bared, beneath a moonless sky..”

Belle reached out, her hand pressing to Rumpelstiltskin’s cheek as she mumbled, “Blind in the dark, as soul gazed into soul, I looked into your heart… and saw you pure and whole.”

Rumpelstiltskin turned his head, pressing his lips together to kiss her palm. “Cloaked under the night,” he shrugged. “With nothing to suppress; a woman and a man. No more, and yet! No less. And I kissed you.” 

“And caressed you.” Belle agreed.

“And the world around us fell away, we said things in the dark we never dared to say.” They said together, her forehead coming to lean against his.

“And I caught you.” Rumpelstiltskin remembered, his voice merely a whisper.

“And I kissed you.” Belle’s lips ghosted over his, and then he was lost.

He remembered the next thing _explicitly_ clearly. “And I took you.”

Belle blushed prettily. “And I _begged_ you.”

“With a need too urgent to deny, and nothing mattered then… Except for you and I. Again, and then, again, beneath a moonless sky.” Their words overlapped each other as they murmured.

“And when it was done,” Rumpel said, ashamed. “Before the sun could rise, ashamed of what I was, afraid to see your eyes… I stood while you slept and whispered a goodbye.” His voice was a whisper in her ear. “And slipped into the dark, beneath a moonless sky.”

Belle, of course, had none of that. “And I loved you! Yes, I loved you! I’d have followed you anywhere you led. I woke to swear my love, and found you gone instead.”

Rumpelstiltskin looked stricken. “I had to, both of us know why.” Rumpel murmured, upset. “And yet, I won’t regret, from now until I die...The night I can’t forget, beneath a moonless sky.”

Belle sighed, pulling away from him. “And now…” Rumpelstiltskin began.

But Belle shushed him. “How can you talk of now? For us -- there is no _now_.”

Rumpelstiltskin looked as if she’d hit him. But he did not argue, he didn’t have time, as Baelfire came out of his room.

“Mother, please, won’t you come tuck me in?” he asked, his musical voice plain to hear through Rumpelstiltskin’s ears.

“Mother, who is this?” Baelfire asked curiously.

“Just a friend, Bae. Baelfire, meet.. Rumpelstiltskin.” She paused before saying his name, and his heart skipped a beat merely to hear his name pass her lips once more.

“Nice to meet you, Sir. Are you one of the singers that Mother will perform with?” Baelfire asked curiously.

Shrugging, Rumpelstiltskin nodded. “In a way.” He agreed. “While I sing sometimes, I’m the musician mostly.” he told the child.

“You make the music Mother sings?” Baelfire was quick, and it was clear he was interested in this man.

“Yes, exactly.” Rumpel smiled at him uncertainly. “How old are you, Baelfire?” He asked curiously. The boy’s brown eyes did not make sense. Will’s brown eyes were darker, Bae’s were more of a coffee with cream in it.

Baelfire opened his mouth to respond, but Belle silenced him with a look. “Baelfire is ten years old.” she announced. “And it’s nearly time for him to be asleep in bed,” She admonished him gently.

Rumpelstiltskin wished that the boy could stay up longer, wished he could ask what he so desperately wanted to believe, but he did not. He said _nothing._

And then, as something inside him snapped, he took Baelfire by the waist and picked him up. He perched him on the balcony’s edge. He began to sing out clearly. “Have you ever yearned to go, past the world you think you know? Been enthralled to the call of the beauty underneath?”

Belle grabbed Bae’s hands and held them tight, but made no other move to take him down.

“Have you let it draw you in, past the world where dreams begin? Felt the full breathless pull of the beauty underneath? When the dark unfolds it’s wings, do you sense the strangest things? Things no one would ever guess, things mere words cannot express?” Rumpelstiltskin sang the lyrics loudly.

“YES!” Baelfire’s voice was enthusiastic, and he seemed to be enjoying the wind in his hair.

“Do you find yourself beguiled, by the dangerous and wild? Do you feed on the need for the beauty underneath? Have you felt the sense of surge, have you surrendered to the urge? And been hooked as you looked, at the beauty underneath? When you stare at the night, can you sense it’s primal might? Might you hunger to possess, hunger you can’t repress?” Rumpelstiltskin asked.

“Yes! It seems so beautiful,” Baelfire’s voice whooshed against the wind. “So strange, yet beautiful! Everything’s just as you say.” he agreed.

Rumpelstiltskin’s eyes widened to the point of saucers, and Belle’s hands let go of Bae’s. Either she was shocked as well, or she trusted her son with her ex-lover.

“And he’s so beautiful,” he sang. “Perhaps too beautiful. What I suspect cannot be; and yet, somehow, we both see...The very same way!”

Baelfire was eager to follow the prompting. He sang out, “Is there music in your head? Have you followed where it led? And been graced, with a taste, of the beauty underneath? Does it feel your every sense, is it terribly intense? Tell me you need it too! _Need the beauty underneath!_ ”

“When he lifts his voice and sings, do you feel amazing things? Things you know you can’t confess, things you thirst for nonetheless?” Rumpelstiltskin sang.

“It’s all so beautiful,” Baelfire whispered as he sang.

“Can it be?” Rumpelstiltskin asked, his gaze wavering from his possible son’s face to his ex-lover’s. She looked away.

“Almost too beautiful!” Baelfire shrieked.

“Do you see what I see?” Rumpelstiltskin asked in awe. “To him, my world is beautiful! How can this be what it seems? All of my most secret dreams, somehow set free!” his voice was awed. “You can feel it,” he said, and it was no longer a question.

“Yes,” Baelfire promised, his voice melodic as he sang.

“Come closer,” Rumpelstiltskin beckoned him.

“Yes!” Baelfire exclaimed, coming closer to Rumpel.

“Wow,” Rumpelstiltskin muttered. Louder, he spoke, “You’ve no fear of the beauty underneath? You can face it?”

“Yes!” Baelfire repeated eagerly.

“You can take it!” 

“Yes!”

“You see through to the beauty underneath!” Rumpelstiltskin challenged him. “To the splendor!”  
“Splendor!” Rumpelstiltskin was a little more than surprised when Baelfire echoed him.

“And the glory!”

“And the glory!” Baelfire echoed again.

“You’ll accept it, you’ll embrace it!” Rumpelstiltskin challenged.

“Yes!” Baelfire assured him.

And so Rumpelstiltskin began to take his mask off, a shallow breath coming from Belle as she realised what was going on.

“Let me show you the beauty under-” But Rumpelstiltskin didn’t get to finish.

Baelfire screamed, and Belle jumped into action.

She cradled her son to her breast, shushing his screams and cries.

Rumpelstiltskin blanched, and his mask was almost dark grey in comparison of how white his face was. He put the mask back on.

When Belle returned, she was alone. “Please forgive him,” she bade him. “He meant no harm.”

Rumpelstiltskin glared at her through his single eye. “How did you think I wouldn’t guess? How could you think I wouldn’t know? Do you have something to confess? I want the truth right now if so!” he roared.

“Once upon another time, you went off and left me all alone! But that’s not all you did; You left me with a son!” Belle admitted, her eyes filling with tears. “Ever since that other time, I wished, how I wished you would have known! I kept the secret hidden, the secret my marriage forbid. What else could I have done?” she whispered.

“Our son!” Rumpelstiltskin sobbed. 

“Just live.” Belle admitted 

“ _My_ son!” Rumpelstiltskin roared.

“Just give what I could give; and take, what little I deserve…” Belle sighed.

“My own flesh and blood,” Rumpelstiltskin muttered. “And even _he_ recoils in horror from me.” After a moment, he added, “Just like his mother.” he gazed intently at Belle.

Belle blinked back tears. “Forgive me, I beg you, if you can.” She pleaded. “I’ve brought you nothing but woe; Tomorrow night, I’ll sing with all my might. Sing for you, again, then we’ll go. “ She vowed. And she left, running after her son at last.

“From out of ugliness, such light. From out of darkness, such a flame! In him, my wrongness is made right.. And yet, he loathes me just the same.” Rumpelstiltskin continued to rumble. “So let him shun me in disgust; Let him flee this cursed face! If I must hide from him, I must. But yet, he shall be my saving grace!” he proclaimed. “For Belle, my Belle, if it’s true -- I’ve no reason to live. Then, Belle, that our boy shall have all I can give! All I create on this earth; All that I’ll never be worth! All shall be his!” He vowed.

And then he walked off, his heart pounding in his ears as cursed Will Scarlett’s name. If that man hadn’t come in, he would have Belle, and he would have Baelfire rightfully his too. Gods!

And so, once she was sure he had left, Cora Mills came out of hiding. She cursed the man’s name. “Ten long years, and he casts us aside! Ten whole years, this is how we’re repaid!” She shouted, her accent making the words hard to decipher. “Ten dark years of toil and tears, and now what we’ve worked for will go to that child!” she cursed again. “All our hopes were at last in our grasp, all our dreams and the plans that we made! Everything is vanishing, and we get discarded, rejected, _reviled!_ ”

Cora placed one hand against a long pole, angrily. “All the bonds in between is now torn! All the love we gave him is now worn! All would be _ours_ if that _bastard_ had never been born!” and she left, angrier than she’d ever felt in her life.

 

Will Scarlet reached the bar soon after he grew tired of waiting for Mr. Y to show up. He ordered the fifth scotch on the rocks of the night.

Zelena came up to him, a smile on her face pasted from many years of acting and performing. “Hello, Will!” she greeted him saucily, sitting beside the man who her best friend was married to.

“Greetings, Ms. Mills.” he responded, his voice sloppy as he was bored and drunk. 

“Please, if I’m to call you Will, you should call me Zelena… Or a moniker of the sort.” Zelena slid into the chair beside him.

“Very well, Zel.” Will agreed, looking over at her curiously. What was she doing here?

“Zel” leaned over and bumped her shoulder against his. “So, Will,” she began. “What’s it like? Being married, and in America no less!” she asked.

“Marriage has it perks,” Will said carefully as he could manage, being drunk and all. “But I’m finding America is lacking.”

Zelena nodded, using her acting skills to play interested. “And you’ve a son!” She prompted.

“Yes,” Will agreed. “Belle got pregnant shortly after we’d married.” he said with a fond smile. “Baelfire’s nearly eleven now.” he continued.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Zelena practically purred. “Did you think of it?”

“No,” he said with a laugh. “Belle did, convinced herself she was going to have a boy, and determined that I had no say in naming the child.”

“How peculiar!” Zelena commented honestly. “If I had a child, I’d want the father to name it.” she flirted, leaning forward.

Will, against what his sober thoughts were telling him, leaned in as well and gazed at her for a few seconds before letting his gaze drift lower.

A cough alerted them of another presence, thankfully, before it went too far. It was the second bartender, changing shifts.

Zelena blushed and said she had to go. She left, after pressing a kiss to Will’s cheek.

“One more, good man.” Will ordered the new tender. When the bartender turned, Will jumped. He didn’t expect to see the glittery skin of Rumpelstiltskin. “What? No, it can’t be!”

“Not afraid of me, you say?” Rumpelstiltskin returned, an impish smile on his face. 

“Stay back! Or I’ll kill you, I promise you!” Will vowed.

“Of course,” Rumpelstiltskin stepped forward. “As you say, you’ve beaten me before.” he flashed his teeth. “But that was a long time ago, Vicomte, and we were playing a different game.” He glanced Will up and down before declaring, “Look at you! Deep in debt, stinking drunk, pitiful. Shall we too make a bet? Devil take the hindmost.”

“Look at you!” Will retorted. “Foul as sin, hideous, horrible! Call the stakes, deal me in. Devil take the hindmost!” Will roared.

“Our Belle shall choose tonight,” Rumpelstiltskin announced.

“Let her choose!” Will challenged.

“Is she yours or mine?” Rumpel smirked.

“Draw the line.” Will shouted.

“If she sings, you lose tonight.”

“I won’t lose.”

“You leave from here,” Rumpel threatened.

“Fine.” Will agreed.

“Disappear,” Rumpel pressed.

“Fine!” Will retorted. “And if she won’t, if I win-”

“All your debts, wiped away.” Rumpelstiltskin promised.

“Very well, let’s begin.” Will snarled. “Devil take the hindmost!”

And so it went on for a few more minutes, this game of cat and mouse.

Until Will got smug.

“We’ve a son, our bond’s secure!”

“Are you sure?” Rumpelstiltskin responded calmly.

“What?”

“Are you so sure?” Rumpelstiltskin cackled.

“What do you mean?” Will demanded.

“Such a child, strange to see -- different, musical.”

“Huh?!” Will shrieked.

“Is he more, you or me? Which one do you find most?” Rumpelstiltskin sang out, watching as Will tried to calculate this new information in his mind.

“You lie!” Will roared.

Rumpelstiltskin snarled, his yellowish teeth bared to the man.

“I call your bluff!” Will challenged.

“She walks, you leave together. Pockets full, debts paid.” Rumpel announced. “She sings, you leave alone.” he threatened. He turned to leave and as he did, he sang out, “Devil take the hindmost.”

As he left, Will buried his head in his hands. “Oh Gods,” he muttered. “What have I done?” And he fled to Belle’s dressing room.

 

When Will came in, she was just deciding on earrings. She looked up, however, and smiled as she saw her husband. “Hey,” she greeted him softly.

“Listen, Belle,” his voice was no longer slurred, probably what went down with Rumpelstiltskin had sobered him. “You can’t do this. Tell them you won’t sing.” he begged her.

“I can’t do that, Will.” Belle protested, her heart pounding in her throat. Why did he always have to take what she wanted? She wanted her hand to go to Rumpelstiltskin, but instead her father chose Will… She wanted Rumpel to raise his son, but alas, that too went to Will. 

“We can go tonight, Belle.” Will went on, as if she hadn’t spoken. “We’ll leave for America, maybe we can bring Zelena if you want.” he added slyly. 

“I don’t want to go.” Belle told him firmly. “I made a promise to sing tonight.” She pointed out. “And I don’t go back on my promises. Just as I once promised to marry you, husband, and I did not back out.” She dealt a low blow, but perhaps that’s what it took to give her husband that reality check he so needed.

“You don’t understand, Belle.” Will said with a feigned sigh. “We must go. We aren’t safe here!” He did not dare tell her more.

“I do understand,” Belle sniffed. “You don’t like it when I sing. But I made a promise, Will, and I’m sticking to it.” She vowed.

“You’ll regret it, my Belle.” Will told her mysteriously, kissing her forehead before he left.

Belle sighed, but continued to get dressed. Her earrings were a brilliant shade of blue, deeper than her eyes.

 

Taking a deep breath, Belle came out onto the stage. The music began to play, and after a few moments of instrumental, she began to sing at last, declaring her destiny:

“Who knows when love begins? Who knows what makes it start? One day, it’s simply there, alight inside your heart. It slips inside your thoughts, it infiltrates your soul. It takes you by surprise, then seizes for control.” She sang, her voice strong as she sang.

She looked over to the left, and saw her husband, who looked anguished and tortured. 

She looked to the right, and saw Rumpelstiltskin. Her heart fluttered as she began to sing again. “Try to deny it, and try to protest, but love won’t let you go; Once you’ve been possessed.”

She sighed. “Love never dies.. Love never falters! Once it has spoken; love is yours. Love never fades, love never alters. Hearts may get broken,” She glanced at Will. Then at Rumpelstiltskin. “Love endures.”

And then she saw Will turn and leave. Belle felt her heart seize, but she forced herself to continue singing strongly. “Hearts may get broken; love endures.”

Belle finished the song a few minutes later. 

She went back to her dressing room, to find a single rose left for her. Unknown to her, Rumpelstiltskin slipped in as she read a letter that Will had left her.

 _“My darling wife,”_ the letter read. _“I have decided to go back to France. Of course, I have arranged for you to stay as long as you like. To continue this singing career you seem to pay more attention to than your husband.”_ At this, Belle let out a sob. _“I have left Baelfire in Zelena’s care until you see fit to fetch him. Yours, Will.”_

“Will- He- He left.” She sobbed. She reached out, and Rumpelstiltskin walked into her arms. She clung to him.

Rumpelstiltskin kissed her head gently. “You sang beautifully,” he murmured. He had no words of comfort; he didn’t see why she would cry over the loss of this husband. He was a drunkard, and a sorry excuse for a father to _their_ child. 

Belle gave him a watery smile. “Thank you, Rumpel.” She murmured, hugging his waist. And then she pulled back, her eyes widening. “Baelfire!” She shrieked.

“What? What is it? Where is he?” Rumpel was on high alert immediately.

“Will left him with Zelena. But- I don’t- I need him, Rumpel.” She begged.

“Then let’s go and get him.” He said calmly, and rose, pulling her with him.

They left immediately to go downstairs, and retrieve their child.

 

“Please, Miss Mills. I want to go back, I want my mother.” Baelfire said, his eyes wide.

“The world is hard, the world is mean, it’s hard to keep your conscience clean.” Zelena Mills sighed, pulling Baelfire on as she walked onto the rickety steps of the broken bridge.

“Please, you’re hurting me!” Baelfire whined, his brown eyes pained.

“The sea is calm, the sea is grey. It washes everything away.” She sang.

“Miss Mills, I can’t swim!” Baelfire screamed.

“Don’t worry,” Zelena snickered. “It’s almost over! Sink into the deep, blue and cool and calm. Then drift off to sleep; let the past unwind. Leave the hurt behind…” She trailed off as Belle and Rumpelstiltskin came up to them.

“Baelfire!” Belle screeched.

“Mother!” Baelfire reached for her, but Zelena held him back. “I’m not done yet!” She screamed.

“Let go of the boy now!” Rumpelstiltskin roared. He took a step forward.

“Not another step!” Zelena warned.

And so, Rumpel stopped. “Let go of him, girl, or I promise you-!” he snarled.

“Not another word!” Zelena roared. “I always wondered how to make you watch, well watch me now!” She shouted.

Rumpelstiltskin blanched, and held Belle back as she tried to grab for her son again. It wasn’t wise of her and Rumpel knew that.

“I took a little trip to Storybrooke Island, I took a little trip because of you! I did as Mother said, and followed where you led and tried to do what little I could do!” Zelena tightened her grip on Baelfire, and he screamed.

“Well here’s the way it works on Storybrooke Island, they make ya pay for every little crumb. I gave what they would take; I gave it for your sake!” Zelena roared.  
“Bathing beauty, on the beach. Bathing beauty, in her dressing room. Bathing beauty, in the dark, on their laps, in their arms, in their beds!” she screamed.

Cora Mills blanched. “Zelena, my little Zel, what are you saying?” She demanded.

“Who helped you raise the money?” Zelena screeched. “Who helped the permits come through? Who greased the wheels of your high flying deals, and bought you time when the bills came due?”

Zelena stepped farther back onto the rickety bridge, taking Baelfire with her.

“Who swayed the local bosses, curried favour with the press? _No, not her!_ And who kept singing, desperate for your favour? Who kept dancing, hoping you’d save her? Who kept _dying,_ and _this_ is what you gave her?” She roared. “Now that I’ve got your attention, at last, here’s one big finish and then you can go!” She pulled a gun out of her purse, and madness ensued, as one could assume.

“Give me the gun, Zelena. Give me the hurt and the pain, and the gun, Zelena. Give me the blame for not seeing the things that you’ve done, Zelena. Give me the gun, Zelena.” Rumpelstiltskin begged.

Zelena stepped closer, and Rumpelstiltskin kept on talking. “Give me the chance to see you clear at last.” he requested.

“See me clear at last?” Zelena echoed, a little panicky.

“You feel ugly, you feel used, you feel broken, you feel bruised. Ah, but me, I can see all the beauty underneath.” Rumpel encouraged her.

“Yes.” Zelena agreed, looking maniacally at him.

“You’ve been robbed of love and pride; been ignored and pushed aside; even so I still know there’s beauty underneath.” Rumpelstiltskin vowed, taking a step forward.

“Yes!” Zelena took a step forward as well.

“Diamonds never sparkle right, if they aren’t set just right. Beauty sometimes goes unseen..” Rumpelstiltskin began. “We can’t all be like Belle.”

And that’s when she snapped.

Zelena snarled, “Belle! Belle, _always_ Belle!” And in a rush, she pulled the trigger.

Belle fell to the ground.

“No! I didn’t mean to!” Zelena screamed.

No one heard her, though, as they crowded around Belle.

“Mother please, say something! Say anything!” Baelfire begged, pressing his hand to her cheek.

Belle smiled weakly and put her hand over her son’s.

“Mills, go get help! Now!” Rumpelstiltskin shouted.

“Where’s Papa? He should be here! Where’s Papa?” Baelfire pleaded.

“Your father.. Your real father..” Belle began, her voice shaky. “Look with your heart, and not with your eyes. The heart understands, the heart never lies. Believe what it shows, and trust what it feels, look with your heart, the heart always knows.” She promised.

“No!” Baelfire ran off, looking wildly around to find his Papa.

“Come closer,” Belle pleaded with Rumpelstiltskin. “I beg you. Closer, still.” She requested. “Remember -- Love never dies… Kiss me one last time.” She begged.

And as Rumpelstiltskin placed his mouth over Belle’s, a light shot out from them. It covered them completely for a nanosecond until Belle was strong enough to kiss back, even tangle her hands in Rumpelstiltskin’s brown mass of hair.

“What? What happened?” Rumpelstiltskin whispered, his voice thick as he pulled away from her.

“True Love’s Kiss.” Belle whispered in shock.

“Well, it’s true.” Rumpelstiltskin murmured, unnerved. “I do love you.” he vowed.

“And I love you.” Belle promised.


End file.
